Dumping barge or lighter



A, C. WATERS.

I' DUMPING BARGE 0R LIGHTER.

APPLICATION HLEn ocT. 15, 191s.

11,306,322. Patented June 1o, 1919.

ff g

and useful Improved Dumping Barge or" UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEroE.

ARTHUR CHARLES WATERS, oF-NEWCASTLE, VNEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA.

DUMPING BARGE 0R LIGHTER.

Specification of Letters Patent. .Patented June 10, 1919.

Application led October 15, 1918. Serial No. 258,230.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, ARTHUR CHARLES WATERS, of Barrymore, Merewether Beach, Newcastle, in the State of New South Wales and Commonwealth of Australia, shipyard manager, have invented a new will to capsize or turn completely over to' dump or discharge said loading from one vessel or hull and present a` reverse vessel or hull ready to ,receive further loading and so on continuously. And the 'improved dumping barge or lighters dispense with eX- pensive hopper doors below water and their accessories and further obviate the trouble expense and delays which occur with hopper barges or lighters by reason of hopper doors allowing leakage of materials specially during towage by not closely fitting owing to materials getting jammed and the doors frequently becoming strained (necessitating docking or slipping of the barges or lighters for repairs). And moreover the improved barges enable a loading even of soft and perhaps clingy material to be expeditiously' discharged even after said loading has been therein for some time and enable rock stone and like loads to be discharged more readily and satisfactorily and efficiently than from hopper 'barges and further enable the hulls or vessels of the improved barges to 'be repaired in case of damage without the necessity of docking or slipping them and furthermore dispenses wholly or partly with a crew or attendants.

This improved dumping barge or lighter consists of two pontoons connected and tied together longitudinally and ended so as to provide two (preferably water-tightlvessels or hulls back to back each of which vessels or hulls is preferably and has a controllable scu per or drain vave and may have contro lable ooding va Ve.

of equal capacity This improved barge has preferably bow or nosed ends and has preferably cross or strong beams athwart ship or may be bulk heads or like ties. And none or both pontoons may be divided into compartments each having a controllable flooding valve or valves and escapes or air pipe or pipes with an overwater discharge end.

A In order that the invention may readily -Vbe carried into practice the Same will now be described with reference to the drawings accompanying this complete specification in which diagrammatically Figure 1 is a plan Fig. 2 a side elevation and Fig. 3 a cross sectional elevation respectively of a preferred construction of this improved dumping barge or lighter and Figs. 4 and 5 are similar cross sectionsillustrating modified Vconstructions of the pontoons.

The pontoons 10 preferably of square shape in cross section are positioned diamondwise and distanced sufficiently to render the barge stable with the desired load and joined say horizontally at their nearest angles by a flat or bottom 11 and to each vertical angle is preferably affixed a bulwark or coaming 12 which is continued across as part of the ends of two back to back or oppositely disposed hulls or vessels 8 and 9 of approximately equal capacity. The bow end 13 is set'angularly from the center line to diminish resistance by the water while the stern end 14 is vertical though both may have the same set as desired. Within the hulls or vessels are strong beams l5 or floors bulkheads or the like. If desired wooden fenders 7 are afhXed at each side of the barge to protect it against contacting objects and these fenders (when say the water line after overturn of the barge is at about the angle of the pontoons) increase the local water plane and thus increase the stability of the barge immedivately after it has overturned and additionallyhold it while the flooded compartment 9 which is then uppermost drains and the barge regains lits normal stability.

In the construction shown in Fig. 3 one of the pontoons 10 is divided by a diagonal pontoon is counter balanced by constructional `details in the other .pontoonror by i #by va rod or connectionv cord from an atkdivision of the pontoon into compartments additional or' `auxiliary compartment or tank 22 is preferably provided between the. l.pontoons formed |by joining `flats or decks tending tug or other vessel or operatable byV other suitable means may be utilized.

Although the `preferred construction of 17 and 18 as shown in Fig. 3 thesecompartments may be made by cross flat k23 in dotted lines or by disturbed diagonal 24 as shown in Fig. L1k and in this construction an i 121 and such tank 22has'means for flooding same either director froma'compartment f of the `pontoon and also-has air valves and v ...discharge valves.

- the compartments of the divided In themodiied construction as shown in sFig. 5 the -pontoons 10 are connected by two flats or 4decks 25 forming an extension of ontoon j across the center of the barge thus a lowing the water in said compartments when same has been turned over to spread toward the 'to right herself.

In use the barge receives loading upon v mididlerline of the barge and assist the barge Y p tion connected together `side by side with *their* `longitudinal angles opposite j each :or in -the upper hull or vessel V8 and is J transported say by towage to the dumping locality. The lower compartment 18 ofone 4pontoon 10 vis now flooded by opening valve 19 preferably by means of a cord or the like from the tug and the barge will vlist and .completely overturn when suiicient water has` entered through said valve19 taking the place of the air passing out i through drain pipes 20. The flooded compartment 18 then becomes uppermost and thewater therein escapes through the drain pipes 20 the water contained in the now upper vessel 9 discharges itself through the valves 26 and the barge regains an even keelA ready for another loading in the said ,upper hull or vessel 9 which loading may be dumped by operating Hood valve 19 with scribed and explained.

, similar eiect to that just described.

In a further though more costly construcvalves and drain and air valves. These compartments. are so placed in the pon- I toons ythat the flooding thereof in a laden barge will not materially affect-the position of the center of gravity ofthei'ladeii barge lother than if anything raising it causing it verticalr -sinlragev and a .consequently decrea-sed water plane and lowering the position oi the-transverse meta-'center until it is unstable causing it to list and overturn.

`barge may have foreach vessel or hull gates or .other openings or a sliding door with float so vthat when thebarge turns over the openings or doors will allow the subil merged portions, of the pontoons to pass free through the water when the barge is being towed without presenting a broad end against the water. Y

If desired an ordinary rudder and Aoper-v l ating mechanism may be provided.

What I claim is 4 1. A dumpingvbarge or lighter comprising'two pontoons connected together lside by side and having opposing walls inclined c with respect to each other to form twohulls back to back, and means for admitting water Y to at least one ofthe pontoons to 'render the barge unstable. l

2.7 A dumping ing. two pontoons of rectangular cross-sec# other to form two hulls back"to'back,V and means for` admitting waterto one at least of said pontoons to renderfthe barge unstable. y.

3. Animproved dumping barge or lighter comprising two pontoons united longitu`di nally by a flat'for deck` so as tolform two A barge ,or lighter compris-` 4. Animproveddumping barge constituted of pontoons distanced andv -joined by a iiat or deck, one atleast of said pontoons having water-tight compartments contained, in said pontoons7 and devices to enable the floodingy and draining of said compartments, substantially as herein de- In'testimonyfwhereof I have signed my name to this -speciication-in the presence of vtwo subscribing witnesses:

yARTHUR `cnam-iis -wATERs eWitnessesg n i 'I IMARTEY JOHNSON, CHARLOTTE WiLLrAMs.

. Copies of this patent may be obtained for five-cents each, by addressing he :ifcommssone of. Patents,

i Y i Washington, D. e. Y Y 

